Good afternoon, everyone! I hope you all have had a great week so far. Today I interviewed Kevin Putman, another featured speaker at the Conference. After suffering from OCD himself and receiving intensive treatment at the Houston OCD Program, Kevin now devotes much of his time to contributing to the OCD community and helping others who are suffering with OCD. Watch Kevin's OCD rap song "Breakin' the Symmetry" below.
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At the Conference, Kevin will be presenting on the joys and tribulations of working in and contributing to the OCD community after one has experienced and recovered from OCD.
What is the name of your talk, when is it taking place, and are you presenting with anyone else?
The name of my talk is "Working With OCD Following Your Own Battle: Rewards, Challenges, and Directions". I will be presenting with Nathaniel P. Van Kirk, MS & Elizabeth McIngvale, LMSW on Friday, July 29th from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm.
What makes your talk unique?
We will be discussing the rewards and opportunities that present themselves following seemingly unsurmountable battles. It was just a year ago that I was in intensive treatment in Houston, and I feel like I have come out a new person. I am ready for life! I just recently finished doing a very successful OCD awareness event in Michigan called “Ping Pong for OCD”. It was a tournament to raise awareness and a way for people to come together to learn about OCD.
What are the important things attendees will be able to take away from your talk?
It’s not all bad to have OCD. Within the planning of the Ping Pong event, the OCD became almost an advantage to me. There is hope if you are struggling with OCD. Also, there are places to go and people to help you and there is a entire life afterwards once you are stable, and tons of things you can do despite having OCD, which many people seem to forget about sometimes.
Tell us a little bit about you and how you became involved in the OCD community.
My wife found the IOCDF on the Internet, so we registered last year for the conference and it was an amazing experience and since then I have stayed involved.
Have you been to an IOCDF Conference before? If so, how many IOCDF conferences have you been to? What is your most memorable experience? If not, what are you hoping to get out of this year's conference.
I went to the conference once before, last year in Washington, DC.. My favorite part of the conference was the room reserved for people connected with the Houston OCD Program. I had just gone through treatment in Texas before the conference, and it was nice to see all of the people I knew in one place again. We were able to share stories and reconnect.
Are there any other talks or programs in particular that you are hoping to catch while at the conference
Jeff Bell is someone I like to listen to. I read his book and I would like to go check out one of his workshops. I would also like to see Throstur Bjorgvinsson. I have a very high level of respect for him, as he is the director of OCD Houston Program.
Well, I can definitely say that it is people like Kevin that keep us all inspired and working hard here at the IOCDF. Stay tuned for my next blog on Monday where I will be checking back in with Michael Spigler and updating you all on the Conference preparations here at the IOCDF office in Boston!